I Voted for you, Kevin
by sleepyheadextreme
Summary: It began on Candace's best day ever turned worst day ever, Jeremy is leaving for college, Phineas and Ferb don't seem to need their sister, and now the zebra is claiming that her existence might be snuffed out. "The Lights are dying, Kevin, and soon the stars will fall."


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the show Phineas and Ferb or it's characters or related elements, they are the property of Dan Povenmire, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, and Disney.

_**ACT I**_

**It Gets Much Stranger, Kevin **

Stacy and Candace were up long before the dawn, a feat thought impossible by many but today was a special day and so it deserved special attention. It's the first day of summer to most, but to Candace this is the ending of a chapter in her life. Jeremy is leaving, heading off to college. He talked about taking a year off so the two could spend more time together and eventually go to college together, but the school offered him a deal too good to pass up. A scholarship, his golden ticket to a better life. Candace understood and supported the decision, but that left them so little time. In the morning, Jeremy will be packed up and leaving Danville. Today, however, was just for them.

"How's the hair?" Candace asked nervously, desperately trying to find her hand mirror.

"We don't touch it for another three minutes, then it'll look fabulous," Stacy reassured.

"Make up?"

Stacy placed the last few touches to her friend's face, before looking over her for a final inspection. The asian teenager then gave her friend a large grin and a thumbs up in an attempt at cheesey approval.

"Casual yet classy has been achieved."

"That's a relief," Candace said and let out a reassured sigh, "Now can I see my hair?"

"Girl, you shouldn't be that relieved."

"Stacy!"

"I'm kidding, just kidding." Stacy hands Candace the mirror to review the work the two had put in. The girl immediately gasped at the sight of her red hair that had been transformed into a beautiful only described in fairy tales or seen in Disney movies.

"You look great, Candace."

"I'd say beautiful is a more fitting description," A familiar voice rang from the hall, grabbing both girl's attention. At the door was Phineas, who was carrying a large rolled up blue print, and Ferb, struggling to keep the muddy shovels off the clean carpet while keeping his signature stoic face.

"Radiant would be better," Ferb added.

"Why are you two up so early?" the elder sister didn't hesitate to begin interrogating her younger brothers.

"Well you see the dump truck had to come this early or we wouldn't see it till noon, conflict of schedules and all. Which reminds me, come on, Ferb, we got measurements to double check."

Just as the two boys were walking away, Candace stood up with a determined scowl on her face. Stacy quickly placed her hands on the red head's shoulder and forced her down.

"Eyes on the prize, Candace. Eyes on the prize."

Candace let out a sigh, and with it every ounce of her need to bust.

"Thanks, Stacy. I needed that. Today will be just me and Jeremy. No brothers. No distractions. No worries."

"No busting?" Stacy chimmed in.

"No busting."

It was such a simple thing to do. Letting something go, but for Candace it took up almost all, if not all, of her will power to do so. It was something she struggled with from the very beginning of Phineas and Ferb's inventing days, but she could put all that aside for today because Jeremy was worth it.

Candace stood up and gave her friend a grateful look, "Thanks, Stacy. I couldn't do it with out you. Wish me luck."

"Girl, you're so set you don't need it, but I'll give it anyways. Good Luck!"

The two teenagers gave into a quick hug before Candace rushed out the door, while waving good bye to her friend, who was left to gather her things. Candace briskly made her way down the stairs and just as she was about to reach the bottom she heard a welcoming complement.

"You look fabulous today, Candace."

It was Candace's step father, Lawrence, standing by the stairs, his wife standing beside him. The two were each holding boxes of old antiques, which Candace would normally call old junk, and were about to head to their store when they caught sight of their daughter.

"Thanks, dad."

"Be careful, sweetie, and have fun."

"Will do, mom."

She said as she gave her parents a goodbye hug and walked out the door. The teenager didn't waste anytime getting to her boyfriend's house and although she did a quick pace walk, it felt more like a gleeful skip, though that's probably due to her mood. When Jeremy's house came, she could see the blonde haired boy standing in the yard waiting for her.

"Jeremy!" She called and the boy looked up just in time to catch her rushing in an embrace.

"Woah, slow down girl," Jermy said, almost tripping from the impact. He helps Candace up, it was then that their eyes caught each other and refused to let go. The rising sun revealed the other's face, showing every detail and casting shadows that outlined their shape. The two began to move in for a kiss when...

"Jeremy! Jeremy!"

They were screeches from a banshee, hell bent on ruining the life of her teenage rival. Her blonde curls and baby blue eyes hid a creature of malice and greed behind a mask of innocents. Her soul a dismal pit of contempt...or at least that's how Candace saw it.

"Suzy? What are you doing up so early"

Jeremy kneeled down and hugged his little sister.

"Oh I saw you leaving and I thought you were moving early."

"Silly, I don't leave till to marrow."

"Than can we go to the park together."

"but we had a whole day, yesterday."

"I know. I just wanna spend more time with you before you go."

"I'm sorry, Suzy, I already promised to spend today with Candace, but we'll see each other at the dinner tonight. Alright?"

"Okay," Suzy's voice was a deceitful consent to defeat disguised as noble understanding. Jeremy gave his sister one last hug and stood back up, reached for Candace's hand to which Candace reached for his and the two naturally graspped the other.

"Okay," Jeremy said to his girlfriend, "I guess we can go."

The two began to walk away, but Candace gave a glance back and caught Suzy throwing daggers of hateful glares at her. She paid it no mind. The rest of the day was all she wanted and more, it began with a tour through the museum-neither of them knew much about art so they ended up just making the funny voices the paintings and statues would make if they would suddenly come to life. They had a brief lunch at this coffee shop that seemed it was too sophisticated for the two- and it only took five minutes of awkward jokes for them to prove it. They continued on with stroll through the park, revisiting their favorite spots and finding areas they never ventured before. The two ended things by catching a movie they ultimately didn't watch, spending the time whispering little nothings back and forth to each other.

It was way past four, the time they were supposed to arrive, by the time they returned to Jeremy's house. Even from the front yard the music of the growing party could be heard. Jeremy had to stop just short of the backyard gate.

"I think this is one of those now or never moments," Jeremy warned the red haired girl, "Are you sure you're up to it?"

"With you, I'm up for anything that can be thrown us."

The two opened the backyard flood gates and are immediately swarmed by various members of the Johnson family, who took no hesitation in greetings, and hugs, and asking question after question.

"Do you plan to keep in contact? How often will you call?"

"Of course. As much as I can."

"Excited for the college parties or worried about the exams?"

"Let's get settled in before we start throwing parties and exam at me."

"Scared of taking on college life?"

"A bit but I'll make due."

The young couple were soon separated from each other and seemed to be lost in the crowd of people. Candace weaved her way out of the ocean of people, but couldn't find her boyfriend anywhere. The red haired teen felt like she should take the opportunity to mingle with others, but those wishes were quickly dashed when she came across Jeremy's younger sister, Suzy.

"Candace Flynn."

"Suzy."

The two girls spoke as if they were warriors about to meet on the field of battle. They both stared the other down, waiting for their opponent to make a move.

"Oh Candace! There you are!"

Like an angel to guard the downtrodden, Jeremy's mom came in and grabbed Candace away. The teen couldn't remember a time she was so happy to see Mrs. Johnson.

"Mrs. Johnson. It's so good to see you."

"Please, call me Trish, or hawkeye if you prefer. Haha."

Candace joined in Trish's laughter, though unsure if the comment was really funny or if her laughter was just contagious. The two women sat down near the head of the long table that seemed to divide the back yard. The rest of family seemed to take their place at the table shortly after.

"You shouldn't be so formal, you're practically part of the family now, Candace."

"You really think so?"

"Of course, I mean if Jeremy isn't talking about you, he's writing and singing about you. The boys head over heels if I ever saw-Oh here comes Jeremy and Jack now!"

Jack, Jeremy's father, stood at the head of the table with his arm around his son and his free hand was raised up and holding a red, plastic cup. He cleared his throat to gain peoples attention. Everyone turned to the father and son, paying close attention.

"Family! Friends! I would like to say a quick word before we start stuff'n our faces. Today is a day we celebrate a young man's life and accomplishments. I always knew I would be proud to see my son go to college, I just didn't know I'd be this proud." Jack became teary eyed and Jeremy turned a deep red, "Today we celebrate Jeremy and all his achievements that he has and will do. Today is the calm before he blazes a trail that will wow the world, or present company at the very least."

The People raised their glasses with him and gave a hardy, "Here! Here!"

"Now let's stop yak'n and start eat'n!"

"Hold your horses, Phil," Jack sounded a bit peeved but was fully aware that it was all for fun.

"Hold'em!? He'll eat'em!" Someone yelled back and the whole family burst into uncontrollable laughter. Candace understood the joke, though she didn't find it funny. She laughed anyways, not wanting to seem rude.

"In all seriousness," Jack regained control of the conversation. He turns to his son, who resorted to hanging his head in hopes of hiding his embarrassment, and wraps his arm around him, "Jeremy, son, I know that you gave one hundred and ten percent in everything you've done and I know you'll continue to do so in the future. I don't have a single doubt that you'll take this world head on and accomplish anything you set your mind to. The world is your oyster, son. I can't ask for a better son. Don't think one exists. Jeremy, I love you. I'm proud of you in whatever you do in life. We all wish you luck and wish you the best."

He turns to the crowd, "Now you vultures can eat."

The family didn't hesitate to begin passing food and striking up conversations. With the obligatory "I'm proud of my son," speech out of the way, Candace and Trish returned to their conversation.

A few seats down and across the table, a diabolical plan was taking shape. Suzy pulls out a rubber band and a small pebble from her pocket, things so small yet will cause such chaos if used properly. The young girl spots her target, Candace, who is too distracted with a conversation to notice Suzy's poison filled gaze. The window of opportunity opened but was closing quickly. Suzy didn't waste time. In what seemed like half the blink of an eye, the girl wrapped the rubber band around her middle and index finger to make a sling shot, pulled the band with the pebble, and released.

Trish was telling Candace about her many life experiences, all of which seemed to blur together into some grandiose adventure after some point. Of course, Candace was only half paying attention, the rest of the time she would gaze back at her boyfriend, who was equally swamped by his father and a few uncles. Somewhere between Hawkeye's river boat chase and the fear that what little time Candace had with her boyfriend was slipping away, someone asked for potato salad. Candace quickly located the bowl and passed it on, or was meaning to when the bowl of spuds seemed to jump in the air and land on Candace's head.

The initial impact didn't grab much attention, but Trish's storm of "Oh dears," and "Are you all right?" did. It wasn't long until Candace had at least five woman trying to help her, none of which bothered to remove the bowl from her head. Candace Removed the bowl herself and made a mad dash for the bath room, in hopes that she could run damage control before the situation could get worse.

The Large bathroom mirror told Candace the extent of the damage. Her once perfect hair was now disshelved and full of potato salad, not only that but it seemed that the spud had found its' way in every nook and cranny of Candace. She grabbed a towel to wipe off the food but it seemed the more she wiped away, the more she found in her hair, her ears, down her blouse. This was a disaster.

A knock came from the door.

"Candace?" It was Jeremy, "Are you all right in there?"

"I'm fine. Everything's fine."

Her voice said other wise.

"Well, It's just that..."Jeremy seems hesitant to say it, "that particular potato salad was my aunt's...who kinda uses parsnip...and I know how-"

"Aaahhh!"

Parsnips! Who uses parsnips to cook anything?! Candace's heart seemed to stop out of pure fear. She believed that the slowly growing redness of her skin was her embaressment. Examining her skin closer, it did have that course rash feel to it.

"You okay? You need anything?"

'Calm yourself, candace,' the girl resorted to an inner monologue pep talk, 'you are prepared for this. you will take the allergy shot you packed, have five minutes to recuperate, and walk out like nothing happened.'

"Actually, umm, could you hand me my purse."

"Alright, just a sec."

Jeremy was as good as his word, in no time flat he returned with the purse in hand. His girlfriend, however, had to make things the tad more difficult by only allowing a crack in the door to pass the bag over. Jeremy handed the purse over, with some difficulty but his girlfriend received it none the less.

"Thank you!" Candace said as she rummaged through her bag, looking for the allergy shot she had carried in case of emergencies. In shear desperation she dumped the bag's content on the floor. She found make up, loose change, a pack of gum, and a small Ducky Momo key chain she brought for luck but no allergy shot. Any hope that she could walk away from this debacle unscathed was slowly slipping away, now she was wishing that the bathroom had a window to sneak out of or some cabnits to crawl in and die. She was left with little choice but to go home to get her medicine and prey that she could get back in time. Candace picked up her things off the floor.

Candace poked her head out for just a second, Jeremy was standing by the door. The very sight of him made Candace recoil behind the door enough to obscure her face.

"Jeremy."

"Everything better, Candace?"

"Not exactly. I, I-um forgot my allergy medicine. I'm going to have to go back home for a bit."

"I can go with you-"

"No. No. No. I don't wanna drag you away from your big moment and your whole family."

"Are you sure? Cause I don't mind and I'm sure no one else will mind if we're gone for a few."

"Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Jeremy still didn't believe her, but trusted that Candace knew what to do.

"Okay, at least let me walk you out."

"O-okay."

The young girl slowly stepped out of the bathroom and into the hall, giving Jeremy his first look at his girlfriend's ailment.

"It's not that bad."

"Really?"

"Totally."

It was...half true. Her skin was turning a lobster red and seemed to bubble in places if you look close enough, but she was far from the worse case he'd seen. Jeremy recalled a particular instance when Candace was so bad, he thought she was going to die despite his girlfriend's claims that she was fine, so he naturally panics and carries her to the hospital then and there.

He grabbed her hand and the two walked to the front door. Jeremy tries to kiss her as he normally does, but Candace is too self concious to allow it, so he makes due with a kiss on her forehead instead.

"See ya soon, beautiful. I love you."

"I love you, too," She said as she stepped out. Candace just wanted to get home and get back as soon as possible, but she didn't even make it out to the sidewalk. She was standing in the yard with an evil satisfaction. It was Suzy standing there as a silent admittance that she was the one who caused it all.

"I hope you get well, Candy, too bad you lost that shot of yours," she says with a tormenting giggle.

Candace's rage was boiling. It was an anger that didn't allow words, only primal screams and violence, but Candace didn't allow herself that luxary because she knew it was what Suzy wanted. Her face just got redder than usual, she grit her teeth, and on the verge of tears she ran home.

She just ran and she ran fast.

Candace stopped only because of the deep pounding in her chest, not because she felt she was far away from her worries. She wasn't. The red head looked up and realized she was at the end of her street. At any rate, it did help her get home faster.

The sun was setting when she made her way up the drive way. The backyard gate was wide open, but she didn't have to be near it to tell that the boys were up to something. Candace entered her backyard and saw Phineas, Ferb, and their friends riding giant, transparent hamster balls as they popped in and out of five or so giant holes in the ground.

"Phineas! What is this thing?!"

"Oh, hey Candace!" Phineas greeted his older sister from his orange, semi-transparent orb, "We decided to try giant hamster balls but decided that a geothermal hamster ball ride would be a hundred times better. Wanna ride?"

It was like clock work, the strange occurrences that happen in Danville. Right then, like every day, something happens to make Phineas and Ferb's project to vanish. Today it was a rather unoriginal green laser. It came down and hit the openings in the ground. There was a dead silence before an odd gurgling sound began to grow. Molten hot lava began to pour out of the openings and spread across the yard. The hamster balls landed with a splash in the magma.

"Phineas! Ferb!"

Candace panicked but never showed it. She made her way through the yard that wasn't covered with melted rock until she reached the tree. Candace didn't hesitate to climb it despite the lava flowing inches from it, which normally would've ranked in her top three worst ideas but her brothers' lives were at stake. She jumped on the one closest to the tree, Baljeet's if she wasn't mistaken. The girl used it to jump to her brother's pod and began to pry open the hatch with her bare hands.

It refused to budge and Candace had resorted to a desperate pounding, when the orbs began to release a white gas. The smoke like substance cooled the lava around them until it was a collection of cool stones. That's when the hatch finally decided to open and Phineas popped out.

"Sorry, Candace, looks like you won't be getting that ride," He said as if nothing had happened.

"Phineas!" Candace embraced her younger brother in an over whelming relief, "I thought you were fried into little bro-kabobs"

"Well technically to be a kabob we had to be impaled before being burnt- Right, not helping. Candace, we would never neglect the safety of ourselves or our friends. We were completely fine the whole time."

"S-so you were safe this whole time?"

"Yeah, we took every precaution. The orbs themselves are made of a dense yet light super carbon and are equipped with several liquid nitrogen canisters to keep the inside cool and to rid of any unwanted lava- or magma if we were under ground but that's just being nit picky. Even if we were buried the pod will locate the surface and burrow its' way up."

"Much like a worm." Ferb said as he climbed out of his sphere and went on to help the others out.

"But thanks for the rescue attempt anyway, Candace."

"Yes. My hero." Baljeet annoyingly added as he popped out of his pod.

"So you were completely safe?"

"Completely safe."

"The whole time?"

"The whole time. Whelp, better get this mess straightened out. See ya, Candace. "

Phineas, Ferb, and their friends began cleaning up the remains of the day's project. Candace looked down and saw that her dress was burnt and singed to a darker color. She wasn't angry. She wasn't sad. She wasn't upset. Candace sat there with a confused numb feeling, as if she had become an empty sitting doll left on the shelf.

She roamed into the house and up to her room, not fully there- set on a zombified auto pilot. The girl administered the allergy shot, even in hectic situations like this she never lost track of these kind of things. She laid on her bed, stared at the ceiling and dreaded the worst. Candace looked at her phone. She couldn't return to the party in her current condition. Candace could change clothes but she would have to take a shower just to get charred rock and potato off of her and it would be too late when she would be finished with all the prep just to look half as decent as this morning. Not to mention that her complexion was nowhere near her usual tone let alone the radiance it had this morning. A simple speed dial ended the internal debate.

Two agonizing rings.

"Hello? Candace?"

"Hey, sweetie. I just-well I. It's about the party-"

"You're not coming?"

His voice wasn't angry or surprised.

"I'm sorry. It's this family thing-"

"Phineas and Ferb?"

"Kind of but not really. It's- it's complicated."

"I understand."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I'll make it up to you. I promise."

"It's alright-"

"No it isn't. I completely flaked and ruined everything. It's a disaster and I'm the goddess of disaster."

"Disaster is kind of a stretch. I mean we had a great time prior to the whole face full of food incident Listen, Candace, when I come back for break we'll do something nice."

"That sounds wonderful, Jeremy."

"Okay, gotta go. I'll talk with you later. I love you."

"Love you more."

The two signed off with a kissing noise accompanied with a face the other won't be able to see. She hung up the phone and tossed it on the side table and any joy the conversation with her boyfriend began to drain. That strange numb feeling came back and brought thoughts of how Phineas just walked away from a near death experience like it was nothing. She got up and began to gather some clothes, at first she was just going to change but maybe a good shower would do her some good. She barely steps into the hall when her mom calls from downstairs.

"Candace, Is that you? I thought you would be at Jeremy's."

"Change of plans, mom"

" Diner will be on the table soon, care to join us?"

"I'd like to take a shower first, if that's okay."

"Okay."

The teenager locked herself in the bathroom. She turned on the water and allowed it to warm up. She began to remove the food stained, burnt clothes, before stepping under the warm water. At first she just let the water wash over her and it gave her this sensation that everything will work out. It, how ever, never stopped her from worrying about it.

Candace was in the middle of lathering shampoo into her red hair, when the idea of Phineas' peril returned and refused to leave. When her brother's pods hit the molten rock, she was filled with a sense of dread that she hadn't felt in a long while. It was when she first saw the boys build one of their impossible projects. At the time all she could think about was all the ways her brothers could get hurt and that she had to get mom. After awhile it stopped being about her brothers' safety, but some sick game she tried to win.

"God, when did my worry turn into psychotic jealousy?" Candace wondered aloud, "What is wrong with me? A lot, I guess."

Candace was done with the shower, or perhaps it would be more apt to say that she was done with the contemplation that came with it. She dries herself off and changes into a clean set of clothes that would last her the rest of the day, a pair of old blue jeans and an over sized T-shirt.

She heads down the hall to meet her family for dinner, but doesn't get far when something catches her eye. It was a picture, but it was a picture of nothing. She pulled it off the wall to examine it further.

The picture was absent of people and contained only a generic background of a wooded area. Candace instantly recognized it as the background used for her seventh grade picture. She remembered it clearly because the kid before her threw up on the wooded area background and a large brown discoloration could be seen on the back drop. The only question left was, where was Candace?

She looked over the other pictures hanging in the hall and she had been edited out of each and everyone of the.

"What the- Phineas! Ferb!" Her anger boiled. The boys had pulled pranks in the past but this was not the time for one. She storms into the boys' room, ready to give them an ear full, but there was no one there when she opened the door. No Phineas, no Ferb, not even Perry.

"That's strange," She ponders aloud. She steps back into the hall to better call her mother.

"Mom! Where are the boys?"

No response.

Candace decides to investigate and heads to her mother's room. Once there she knocks and waits for a response, but nothing comes.

There was no, "Come on in," or, "Just a minute," like always, but a strange silence.

"Mom! Are you there?"

No response.

Candace can't wait any longer, so the young girl opens the door to find an empty room. She returns to the hall and calls for anyone willing to answer back.

"Mom! Dad! Where are you!?"

Nothing.

"Phineas! Ferb!"

The silence of the hall was the tell tale sign that something was wrong. perhaps she spent too much time in the shower and everyone was down stairs eating dinner. Candace headed to the kitchen with the expectation that her family would be waiting for her to join them for dinner. They weren't. The food was left on the table and partially eaten. It was as if mid way through dinner, everyone just got up and left. This sent a twinge of fear up the red head's spine. Maybe her mom would be at the sink washing dishes. She wasn't there. The fear grew and slowly began to consume her.

"They're in the living room," She tried to rationalize it all away, "They can't hear me cause they're all sitting down and watching a movie or something."

She runs to the living room and finds that it's just as empty as the rest of the house. Her parents wouldn't leave without telling her and her brothers would've said something as well. The girl's mind begins to concoct all the horrible things that might of happened to her family and that only makes matters worse.

Candace feels her anxiety rising. She's panicking. The walls begin to close in on her, going to crush her at any second. She storms out of the house and doesn't stop till her feet come in contact with cool blades of grass. Just being outside allowed herself to calm herself and think clearly.

"The easiest solution to the problem is to call her mom," She thinks aloud and pulls out her cell phone to do just that.

"Hello? Candace is that you?"

"Yeah, just seeing if you and everybody was okay."

"We're fine. We're just-"

There was a bit of static before the connection was lost but just knowing that her family was fine was good enough for her. She sighs away the fear and anxiety.

There's a cool breeze at night, the stars are bright, and a gentle wind greets her. She lets go for a moment and lets the summer night take her. She breathes it all in, smelling a mix of blooming flowers and cut grass. Candace noticed that the yard looked empty without some large contraption in it. She actually liked it like that. Her brothers do amazing things everyday, but she remembers the staying up late and catching fireflies was an adventure for her. She would lay on the cool grass and watch the glowing bugs fly in the glass jar until she fell asleep only to awaken in her own bed, whisked to safety by the firefly magic as her mother would put it.

"Calming, isn't it?"

A familiar voice broke the silence, though the question of weather it was real or not came into fruition. Candace became alert and in an instance and in the next spotted the culprit. He was a bipedal zebra wearing a trench coat and standing in the middle of the yard. At least, that was the most likely suspect.

Any normal girl would have screamed for mercy and ran, but Candace was no ordinary girl. She had seen and experienced more in her youth than most do in a lifetime, and this zebra was amongst them. A being or creeature-a whatever that I've ran into from time to time.

"Are you one of my brothers' creations?"

"No."

"Who-What are you?"

"A friend."

"What do you-"

"Kevin, there isn't much time. If we don't hurry now your very existence will be at stake. Now come with me."

The Zebra grabs Candace by the hand and guides her out of the backyard and into the front, where she quickly breaks free of her guide's grip. She wanted a straight answer and not just about how a hoof can hold anything at all.

"Hold on, Just tell me what's going on."

Suddenly all of the street lights and the porch lamps on the street began to go off one after another.

"The lights are dying, Kevin, and soon the stars will fall."


End file.
